An Alaska Airlines flight that had just landed in Seattle from New Orleans was quickly evacuated after a passenger’s phone exploded into flames.
“After much digging, I can tell you that the phone was burned beyond recognition,” Perry Cooper, a spokesperson for the Port of Seattle, told The Seattle Times.
“However, during an interview with one of our Port of Seattle Police officers, the passenger volunteered the phone was a Samsung Galaxy A21. Again, we could not confirm it by looking at the remains of the device.”
Just talked with a passenger on Alaska Airlines flight 751, where a fire broke out in the plane after landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. A passenger’s cell phone caught on fire, an Alaska Airlines official tells @KIRO7Seattle . We’re live at SeaTac at 11. pic.twitter.com/qeNHq4g17Z
— Kevin Ko (@NewsWithKevin) August 24, 2021
An Alaska Airlines spokesperson said fire extinguishers and a battery containment bag were used by flight crew to “stop the phone from smoking.”
Two passengers were treated at a local hospital.
This incident echoes Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 recall, amidst fears that the battery might explode during flights. It is unclear whether this is a design flaw with the A21.
